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      The Top 10 Head Scratchers of the 2009 NBA Offseason

      July 16, 2009 /

      The NBA offseason is by no means over, but the lion’s share is behind us, so it’s a good time to take a look back at a few of the…um…let’s say “questionable” decisions of the summer. Here are my Top 10, in no particular order. Feel free to add to the list if I missed something.

      1. Trevor Ariza plays spiteful hardball…and loses.
      Let’s get this straight — the Lakers offered Ariza the same deal he was getting on the open market, and he refused since the Lakers could have offered more, but didn’t? Um, okay. David Lee (the agent, not the Knicks forward) says that Ariza wanted to go somewhere where he’d be “appreciated.” Lee overestimated the market for his client, and the Lakers quickly moved on to acquire Ron Artest. Now instead of playing for the world champs, Ariza is stuck in Houston on a team that faces a very uncertain future. Lee now says that Ariza turned down a deal worth $9 million more, but still picked Houston. It sounds to me like he’s just trying to save face.

      2. Grizzlies acquire Zach Randolph.
      Once the Clippers traded for Randolph (and his toxic contract) last season, I thought the bar for NBA general managers had hit a new low thanks to Mike Dunleavy and his wily ways. But Dunleavy proved that he wasn’t the dumbest GM in the league when he convinced the Memphis Grizzlies to take on the final two years Randolph’s contract at the tune of $33.3 million. Remember that $25 million or so of cap space that the Grizzlies were going to have next summer? Yeah, that’s down to about $8 million with this brilliant move. Just when it looked like Chris Wallace was going to rehab his image after the Pau Gasol trade — Marc Gasol panning out, trading for O.J. Mayo — he goes and does this. Sigh.

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      NBA, NBA Draft, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Will Jeremy Jarmon be worth a supplemental draft pick?

      July 16, 2009 /

      The NFL supplemental draft takes place today and eight players will stand by and hope that one of the 32 teams is willing to give up a pick in 2010 to acquire their services.

      One of those players is Kentucky defensive end Jeremy Jarmon, who was ineligible for his senior season after testing positive for a banned diuretic supplement. He was a force on the Wildcats’ defensive line during his sophomore season, but opponents started paying giving him more attention during his junior year in ’08 and his production dropped.

      That said, he certainly has the size (6’3”, 278 pounds) and physical ability to make it at the next level. While he’s not an explosive pass rusher by any means, he’s competitive and doesn’t give up on plays no matter how far away from the ball he is. And although his ineligibly last year looks bad on his football resume, that one situation doesn’t mean he has character flaws that pro teams should be overly concerned about.

      It’ll be interesting to see if one of the 32 teams parts with a draft pick in 2010 to take Jarmon today. He might be worth a fourth or fifth round pick for defensive linemen-starved teams.

      Here’s a list of the eight players available in this year’s supplemental draft:

      Blake Boyd, LB, Western Kentucky
      Jeremy Jarmon, DE, Kentucky
      Torris Magee, WR, Southern Miss
      Dixon McKinner, DE, Texas Tech
      Joe McMahon, G, Central Michigan
      Demetrice Morley, S, Tennessee
      Deon Murphy, WR, Kansas State
      Corey Surrency, WR, Florida State

      Update: The Redskins used a third round pick on Jarmon in the supplemental draft.

      NFL

      Giants to trade Zito? Fat chance.

      July 16, 2009 /

      Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News is a little delusional.

      Either that, or my man has been getting high on peyote, because in one of his recent articles he actually suggested that the Giants have to trade Barry Zito.

      And the Giants have to very seriously consider trying to trade Zito to any suitable team that will take some of his money (Zito has a no-trade clause); or they have to think about releasing him in the off-season.

      Of course, at the end of this season, Zito will still be owed a guaranteed $83 million. Which is a lot.

      Releasing him in the offseason might be a viable (expensive, but viable) option with Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson tearing up the minor leagues and possibly being ready to join the big league club next year. But what team would be stupid enough to trade for Zito and take on some of his contract as Kawakami is suggesting? Even the win-at-all-cost, spend-at-all-cost Yankees wouldn’t touch Zito, especially with Roy Halladay on the market.

      Truth be told, Zito hasn’t looked as bad this year as he has the previous two seasons. When he’s supplying souvenirs to the fans sitting in the left field bleachers, he can be serviceable as a fourth or fifth starter. Of course, he’ll still be the highest paid fourth or fifth starter in baseball history, but at least the Giants will be getting something back on their brutal investment.

      Either way, nothing is going to happen this year. No team is going to trade for him and with Randy Johnson on the DL the Giants aren’t going to release Zito during the season, no matter how bad he pitches the rest of the way. They could potentially move him to the bullpen (which they tried to do for about a millisecond last year), but don’t forget that he’s typically a good second half pitcher and with the Giants in contention, they’d be better off rolling the dice and leaving him in the rotation.

      Better yet while the Big Unit is on the DL, the Giants could pit Zito against Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Sadowski for the last two spots in the rotation. Loser either goes to the bullpen (Zito/Sanchez) or Triple-A (Sadowski).

      MLB

      Heat trying to land Boozer, Odom

      July 16, 2009 /

      According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports…

      Now, the Heat are working furiously to deliver Lamar Odom and Carlos Boozer to the shores of Biscayne Bay. The Heat are trying to sell Odom on a five-year, $34 million contract at the mid-level exception, and a league executive with knowledge of the talks says Miami has also hatched a three-way proposal with the Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies to secure Boozer.

      The essentials of a possible deal would include Miami sending forward Udonis Haslem and Dorell Wright to Utah. Because Memphis is under the cap, Utah could move Wright’s $2.8 million salary to the Grizzlies and save itself approximately $5.6 million with salary and luxury-tax payments. Memphis would probably get cash and picks for its trouble. The Heat would have to send one more small contract to make the math on the salary exchange work.

      Odom can play some small forward, so this isn’t an outrageous plan by Riley and the Heat, though I’m not sure where it would leave Michael Beasley. Wojnarowski says that the Lakers have offered Odom $36 million over four years (which works out to about $8 million per season, after state taxes), so I’m not sure why he’d take the Heat’s deal, unless he is looking to sign the biggest contract overall. There is no state tax in Florida, so Miami’s $34 million deal is slightly larger than the Lakers’ deal, after state taxes.

      The Boozer acquisition seems more likely, and although I do like Haslem, I’m not sure that he’s enough to convince Utah to pull the trigger. Portland is also working on a deal for Boozer, since all signs point to the Jazz matching the Blazers’ offer sheet to Paul Millsap whether or not Boozer is on the roster. The Blazers are also trying to get the Pistons involved so that they can try to pry Tayshaun Prince away from Detroit, though Joe Dumars has wisely stayed out of such talks thus far. It appears that he doesn’t see Boozer as a $14 million per season player and that’s what Boozer’s camp is asking for. With his injury history, they need to set their sights a little lower.

      NBA, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Morneau upset by bland Canadian anthem at ASG

      July 16, 2009 /

      Justin Morneau of the Twins is apparently a little irked by the way the Canadian anthem was played (i.e. by record tape) at this year’s All-Star Game.

      Sheryl Crow sang the “Star Spangled Banner” before Tuesday’s all-star game. “O Canada” was a recorded instrumental, and Canadian Justin Morneau felt the anthem deserved better.

      “I wasn’t very impressed with that to tell you the truth,” he said. “You figure they could find somebody to come and sing the song.

      “It’s something that didn’t really go over too well. I think if it happened the other way around, if they were playing in Toronto … it would have been a lot bigger deal.”

      Considering that baseball has a team in Canada, the league could have probably done better than just a taped recording. They could have at least brought in a live band or something.

      That said, I don’t think MLB was trying to slight our friends to the North with a taped rendition of the anthem. And it’s not like the fans at Busch Stadium booed the anthem like people in Quebec and Montreal sporting venues boo the “Star Spangled Banner.”

      MLB

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